Stories – Youth Philanthropy

Thomas, Allison and Sierra are students at U Mass Dartmouth. They’re also representatives for Greek Life on campus. We’ve partnered with the Greek Life Council at UMD to help us connect middle school students to giving and service. We’re starting with their working together on Saturdays at the factory.

Thomas Leman, Student leader had this to say – “Today, we were able to take a few short hours and work at something that’s making life easier for children throughout the SouthCoast. As Greek life students (Phi Sigma Sigma and Chi Phi), we know how fortunate we’ve been to get to college and find familial support in our organizations. We now have a chance to help those less fortunate than us and to be that support for the young boys and girls who volunteer at GiftsToGive. We can be examples of hard work and perseverance to empower other student volunteers to do well in school and life. We look forward to being repeat volunteers and mentors to influence and foster greater success for local youth!”

Wareham Middle School, Student Philanthropists

By: Evelyn Chase, Grade 7

“Philanthropy is about promoting the welfare of others. That is exactly what the organization GiftsToGive is all about. I have been to GiftsToGive five times now and during every single group orientation tour they tell us “50,000”. Then one of us always asks the obvious question; 50,000 what?

It may be silly that I remember that number but I also remember what comes after it as well. 50,000 is the number of children living locally in poverty. This statement always gets to me. What this means is that one of your friends, that person you thought was odd on the bus, or even a complete stranger, could or is living in poverty. So hold on and let me explain a little bit more. The definition of poverty is the state of being extremely poor. And although I may be going a little bit off topic with this one, it is extremely important. Just because you may think you know everyone’s situation you really don’t and that is what GiftsToGive in my opinion promotes.

Today, Dartmouth High’s Girls Soccer Team showed great teamwork while volunteering at GiftsToGive. The team has been putting in time at GiftsToGive for the past 3 years and they do not plan on stopping. Head Coach Poirier believes, “the value of a project like this is that young people get an opportunity to find out two things. First, is how well off they are and second, is that there are a whole lot of people who have little or nothing in the way of material things.”

Johnathan who is a sophomore at Bishop Connolly High School has been volunteering with us since he was in the 7th grade. Jonathan has set a record for helping Newport County Rhode Island families and is now recruiting fellow students to do the same.

Q: What do you get when you mix nine Berkley Brownies with 500 pounds of gently-used, children’s clothes donations?A: Enough warm winter clothes, inspected, sorted and organized to help 24 local children receive a great gift package!

Here is an email we received from their leadership team – ” Thank you so much for allowing our Brownie Girl Scout Troop to come and volunteer at GiftsToGive and showing them that they can be an important part of helping others no matter how old they are. We had such a wonderful experience. The girls, at eight and nine years of age, were saying things like “this was awesome”, “it was a good experience”, and that “it felt good to help”.

OK – so it started off as a regular Wednesday morning.
I woke up, made my coffee, squeezed my orange juice, got on the elliptical bike, did my six miles, got in the shower, dressed and sat in my den to read the overnight dispatches and review my calendar and “things to-do list” for the day.

The morning I had been waiting for was here! An 8:45am meeting with a 4th grade class to talk about philanthropy.
I arrived at the Elementary School on time and was escorted to the basement. I knew something was up, that something was wrong, because the last time I was there to talk to the 4th grade they took me upstairs. Upon arrival in the basement, I was introduced to a pre-school class of 4 year-olds! Oops! I had the 4 correct, but it was an age designation, not a grade level. Twenty minutes later, I had twenty new friends and future voters, parents, leaders and philanthropists. I left feeling like it was the best morning I have had, so far, all year!

Update: Monday, December 2, 2013 The Scouts of Pack 32 in Marion, made a huge difference today!

In November the scouts participated in their soap box derby and used the event to: help help a local family, collect donations for a food pantry and collecting “gently-used” children’s things for GiftsToGive.

This afternoon, after school, Pack 32 in full force – descended on the mill in a literal caravan of vehicles, full of not only scouts, but the treasure they had collected between themselves and other families in Marion.

We met a most remarkable young woman on Saturday, Jessie Barbosa. Photos from our day are here.

Jessie is a student at Bridgewater State University. She organized a day of service with several groups on campus. We asked Jessie to write about their experience, she had this to say – “On Saturday a group of Bridgewater State University students from multiple backgrounds, majors, and ages volunteered their time and services to GiftsToGive in Acushnet. This community service was made possible by a collaboration between The Center of Multicultural Affairs, Men Integrated in Brotherhood and the Community Service Office, which all form part of Bridgewater State University’s clubs and organizations. The students arrived around 9:00am, registered and then received a short orientation, which allowed them to understand the organization’s mission and familiarize themselves with the building.